throw their lives away. Although, of course, you are not one of our schoolgirls any more. Through your own volition.
JENNY
I suppose you think I’m a ruined woman.
HEADMISTRESS
You’re not a woman.
Beat.The HEADMISTRESS is pleased with her line.
No, I’m afraid I think that the offer of a place at this school would be wasted on you.
102 INTERIOR: BUS - DUSK
JENNY looking dejected.The bell goes and she suddenly gets up and heads off the bus.
103 INTERIOR: MISS STUBBS’S FLAT - DUSK.
It’s a proper Bohemian flat.There are books and papers and pictures covering every available surface. JENNY looks around. Finally, for the first time, we see her in somewhere she can feel at home.
MISS STUBBS
Come in. I didn’t expect to see you again.
JENNY looks around.
JENNY
This is lovely.
MISS STUBBS makes a face.
All your books and pictures and . . .
MISS STUBBS
Paperbacks and postcards, Jenny.
JENNY
( apparently understanding something )
That’s all you need, isn’t it? Just somewhere to . . . I’m sorry I said those silly things. I didn’t understand.
MISS STUBBS
Let’s forget about it.
A postcard catches JENNY’S eye.
JENNY
A Burne-Jones.
MISS STUBBS
Do you like him?
JENNY pauses.
JENNY
I do. Still.
MISS STUBBS
Still? Gosh, you sound very old and wise.
JENNY
( heartfelt )
I feel old. But not very wise. Miss Stubbs . . . I need your help.
MISS STUBBS
I was so hoping that’s what you were going to say.
MONTAGE SEQUENCE
JENNY works hard, studying for her exams, the seasons pass . . .
104 INTERIOR: JENNY’S HOUSE, KITCHEN/HALLWAY - DAY
JENNY, JACK and MARJORIE are finishing breakfast. JACK gets up and puts his raincoat on.
JACK
Thank you, Marjorie.
He goes into the hallway. JENNY, still in her pyjamas, hardly looks up from her Penguin book. JACK returns to the kitchen with a letter.
It’s from Oxford.
JENNY takes the letter, opens it, doesn’t give anything away, puts the letter on the table, gets up and goes into the hallway, closing the door to the kitchen. JACK nervously hands the letter to MARJORIE.
MARJORIE
( reading )
‘It is my pleasure to inform you that your application to read English at Oxford has been accepted . . .’
In the hallway, we track in on JENNY, sitting at the bottom of the stairs, as she smiles.
105 EXTERIOR: STREET IN OXFORD - DAY
Eighteen months later. Swelling orchestral music.Wide shot of Oxford spires. Close on JENNY cycling, absorbed, happy.The camera pulls back to show her cycling through the streets of Oxford - a male student is cycling with her.
JENNY ( voice over )
So, I went to read English books, and did my best to avoid the speccy, spotty fate that Helen had predicted for me. I probably looked as wide-eyed, fresh and artless as any other student . . . But I wasn’t. One of the boys I went out with, and they really were boys, once asked me to go to Paris with him. And I told him I’d love to, I was dying to see Paris . . . as if I’d never been.
JENNY and her friend cycle away into the distance.
APPENDIX: ALTERNATIVE ENDING
105 EXTERIOR: STREET IN OXFORD - DAY
Eighteen months later. Swelling orchestral music. Close on JENNY cycling, absorbed, happy, the cello strapped to her precariously.The camera pulls back to show her cycling through the streets of Oxford - a male student is cycling with her. She’s done it.We follow her for a little while. She dismounts outside a church and leans the bike against a wall. Just as she’s about to leave it, she sees something and freezes.We follow her gaze: it’s the red Bristol, parked a little way down the road just in front of her. She scans the street to see if she can find DAVID. She can - he’s coming round a corner, a little further down the street, unwrapping a packet of cigarettes. JENNY moves into his eye-line. He sees her, stops, then walks towards her.
JENNY
Good God.
DAVID
Hello, Jenny.
JENNY
What are you doing here?
DAVID
I came
JENNY
I suppose you think I’m a ruined woman.
HEADMISTRESS
You’re not a woman.
Beat.The HEADMISTRESS is pleased with her line.
No, I’m afraid I think that the offer of a place at this school would be wasted on you.
102 INTERIOR: BUS - DUSK
JENNY looking dejected.The bell goes and she suddenly gets up and heads off the bus.
103 INTERIOR: MISS STUBBS’S FLAT - DUSK.
It’s a proper Bohemian flat.There are books and papers and pictures covering every available surface. JENNY looks around. Finally, for the first time, we see her in somewhere she can feel at home.
MISS STUBBS
Come in. I didn’t expect to see you again.
JENNY looks around.
JENNY
This is lovely.
MISS STUBBS makes a face.
All your books and pictures and . . .
MISS STUBBS
Paperbacks and postcards, Jenny.
JENNY
( apparently understanding something )
That’s all you need, isn’t it? Just somewhere to . . . I’m sorry I said those silly things. I didn’t understand.
MISS STUBBS
Let’s forget about it.
A postcard catches JENNY’S eye.
JENNY
A Burne-Jones.
MISS STUBBS
Do you like him?
JENNY pauses.
JENNY
I do. Still.
MISS STUBBS
Still? Gosh, you sound very old and wise.
JENNY
( heartfelt )
I feel old. But not very wise. Miss Stubbs . . . I need your help.
MISS STUBBS
I was so hoping that’s what you were going to say.
MONTAGE SEQUENCE
JENNY works hard, studying for her exams, the seasons pass . . .
104 INTERIOR: JENNY’S HOUSE, KITCHEN/HALLWAY - DAY
JENNY, JACK and MARJORIE are finishing breakfast. JACK gets up and puts his raincoat on.
JACK
Thank you, Marjorie.
He goes into the hallway. JENNY, still in her pyjamas, hardly looks up from her Penguin book. JACK returns to the kitchen with a letter.
It’s from Oxford.
JENNY takes the letter, opens it, doesn’t give anything away, puts the letter on the table, gets up and goes into the hallway, closing the door to the kitchen. JACK nervously hands the letter to MARJORIE.
MARJORIE
( reading )
‘It is my pleasure to inform you that your application to read English at Oxford has been accepted . . .’
In the hallway, we track in on JENNY, sitting at the bottom of the stairs, as she smiles.
105 EXTERIOR: STREET IN OXFORD - DAY
Eighteen months later. Swelling orchestral music.Wide shot of Oxford spires. Close on JENNY cycling, absorbed, happy.The camera pulls back to show her cycling through the streets of Oxford - a male student is cycling with her.
JENNY ( voice over )
So, I went to read English books, and did my best to avoid the speccy, spotty fate that Helen had predicted for me. I probably looked as wide-eyed, fresh and artless as any other student . . . But I wasn’t. One of the boys I went out with, and they really were boys, once asked me to go to Paris with him. And I told him I’d love to, I was dying to see Paris . . . as if I’d never been.
JENNY and her friend cycle away into the distance.
APPENDIX: ALTERNATIVE ENDING
105 EXTERIOR: STREET IN OXFORD - DAY
Eighteen months later. Swelling orchestral music. Close on JENNY cycling, absorbed, happy, the cello strapped to her precariously.The camera pulls back to show her cycling through the streets of Oxford - a male student is cycling with her. She’s done it.We follow her for a little while. She dismounts outside a church and leans the bike against a wall. Just as she’s about to leave it, she sees something and freezes.We follow her gaze: it’s the red Bristol, parked a little way down the road just in front of her. She scans the street to see if she can find DAVID. She can - he’s coming round a corner, a little further down the street, unwrapping a packet of cigarettes. JENNY moves into his eye-line. He sees her, stops, then walks towards her.
JENNY
Good God.
DAVID
Hello, Jenny.
JENNY
What are you doing here?
DAVID
I came
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